While the pandemic has underscored our region's weaknesses, it has also created an opportunity to closely examine how to reinvent our public systems to better meet the needs of our communities. With intentional leadership and effective policies, Downtown and our city can fully recover and become a more livable, vibrant place than ever before. Still, our homelessness crisis continues to be the most challenging issue facing our region.

Over the last year, we have been following the LA Alliance for Human Rights v. the City and County of Los Angeles lawsuit. CCA remains deeply committed to advancing solutions that will give people the resources they need to be housed, safe and healthy, with a strong emphasis on addressing the legal framework that undergirds our city's ability to tackle this crisis. We want to provide an update on the lawsuit and CCA's engagement on this matter.

What is the LA Alliance for Human Rights lawsuit?
The LA Alliance for Human Rights (Alliance) is a coalition of Downtown Los Angeles stakeholders that sued the City and County of Los Angeles for their mismanagement of the city's homelessness crisis. The lawsuit was filed in March 2020 and is ongoing. Allegations against the City and County include:

• Failure to provide adequate housing solutions and services for the more than 41,000 unhoused individuals living on our streets, and
• Breach of housed and unhoused residents' civil rights by unevenly applying city laws.

The Alliance hopes that the lawsuit will result in directions from Judge David Carter, the US District Judge assigned to the case, that will require the City and County to implement housing and supportive resources through a settlement overseen by the court.

What is the status of the lawsuit?
The City and County entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in June 2020 to house 6,700 unsheltered individuals with priority for those living underneath and near highway overpasses, onramps and exits, as well as individuals that are 65 years or older. A snapshot of the MOU terms and progress towards goals shows:

• A variety of housing solutions or "interventions" are being developed including tiny homes, modular units, pallet shelters, sprung structures, Project Homekey and A Bridge Home beds.
• The City has until April 16, 2021 to bring 6,000 beds online. The County will award the City a one-time monetary bonus for successfully meeting the deadline.
• The City confirmed 4,777 beds will be online by April 16 and is working to provide the remaining 1,223 interventions. The City Administrative Officer will provide status updates on the 6,000 beds biweekly until the April 16 deadline.
• The final deadline for the MOU is 6,700 new interventions by December 16, 2021.
• The City will fund the related capital costs and 50% of the service costs. The County is paying for 50% of service costs.

Has CCA engaged in the lawsuit?
While CCA is not a party to the lawsuit, we share the Alliance's concerns that the City and County have mismanaged the homelessness crisis by failing to deal with serious mental health concerns, entering into settlements that create a confusing legal framework that unevenly applies the law, neglecting to hold neighboring cities accountable for serving their homeless populations and more.

In January 2021, Judge Carter again raised concerns over the inhumane conditions on the streets of Skid Row. He resumed hearings to better understand the City and County's progress towards their goals and whether he will need to intervene and more strongly dictate the terms of the lawsuit's outcome.

Judge Carter recently asked for third parties (those that are not named in the lawsuit but have keen understanding of the city's homelessness crisis) to submit briefs providing insight into how the homelessness crisis has impacted stakeholders and what remedies the court should consider. CCA submitted a third-party brief to:

• Share our perspective as an advocacy organization focused on DTLA's vibrancy and future.
• Highlight the need to address our longstanding broken legal framework that cements unhealthy, unsafe living conditions for people living in street encampments and prevents the City from ensuring accessible and healthy public spaces.
• Ask Judge Carter to ensure that the case's resolution includes the provision of housing and the ability to fairly regulate our public rights-of-way.

Why did CCA weigh in?
CCA represents a coalition of organizations including homeless service providers, housing developers, property owners, cultural and educational institutions and employers that share a commitment to ending homelessness. We collaboratively work together to weigh in and push for solutions and investments that will meaningfully address homelessness.

We closely monitor City and County policy deliberations on this issue. We focus on ensuring individuals receive the resources they need to chart a better path forward and rectifying the broken legal framework that underpins our elected leaders' ability to regulate our public spaces. To achieve this, we need:

• More housing and services to be delivered quickly and effectively. We were strong supporters of Proposition HHH, Measure H, A Bridge Home and more.
• A clear, consistent legal framework that allows the City to respond to the crisis and make long-term policy decisions that help the most vulnerable among us obtain necessary support.

Special thanks to Gibson Dunn's Theane Evangelis, Bradley Hamburger and Billy Cole for their thoughtful guidance and contributions to the brief. We will continue to work on homelessness issues and provide regular updates to ensure that our city and Downtown are healthy, accessible places for all.